Alternatives for treatment and disposal cost reduction of regulated medical wastes
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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Remote Laboratory Management: Respiratory Virus Diagnostics
Published on: April 6, 2019
Byeong-Kyu Lee1, Michael J Ellenbecker, Rafael Moure-Ersaso
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, South Korea. bklee@mail.ulsan.ac.kr
Abstract:
Many hospitals or health care facilities have faced financial difficulties and thus they have attempted to find cost-effective treatment and disposal methods of their regulated medical wastes (RMWs). This study investigated generation volume and sources, composition, and treatment and disposal methods for RMWs obtained from three out of the five typical city hospitals in Massachusetts for which we could obtain relevant data on medical waste. Also, this study compared the generation patterns and amounts of RMWs between the hospital and the medical school. The yearly operational treatment and disposal costs of RMWs based on different treatment and disposal methods were analyzed for one hospital. The most cost-effective option of four different treatment and disposal options studied was to combine on-site incineration and microwave technologies. Finally, this study identified measures for the effective waste characterization methods for the reduction of treatment and disposal costs of RMWs. By careful exclusion of non-RMW from RMW waste streams, hospitals can reduce the RMW volume that requires special treatment and reduce disposal costs.
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